Satellites

Ro

History

Robinson Projection of Ro

When Raythe was first colonized by the United States, Argillians (clay golems) of Ro were found to be great local trade partners. When Raythe lost contact with Earth and society began to collapse, the Argillians initially offered to help, but later chose to stay out of human affairs.

By the late 100sBD, Argillian technology was very advanced. They had tall skyscrapers, fast computing technology, and were in the process of finishing both a gravity and a warp drive. When the magnetic fields that held up the floating continents began to weaken in the 100sBD, the Argillians were only slightly worried, paying no attention to the situation. By 20BD, the Argillians realized this was a serious matter when smaller magnetic rocks began to fall to the ground.

The Argillians attempted to build a ship to transfer Argillians safely to Raythe, but failed because their spacecrafts required the strong magnetic field to boost them out of Ro's gravitational pull. The last decade was spent trying to design a new rocket design, but the program was incredibly unorganized and parts couldn't be constructed due to a resource shortage. Many resource deposit islands were already beginning to collapse and non-magnetic dependent vehicles had to be used to transport materials, which was also inefficient.

On New Years 1BD, the celebration lights came on and instead of turning off the next day, they stayed on throughout the entire year. The flashing lights could be seen all year from Raythe with the people of Raythe always believing it to be the light of the Gods. In reality, it was a distress signal to call for help from any intelligent life that may be watching.The lights grew in intensity as the year progressed, which were actually now the fires of the collapsing society.

Near the end of the year, Ro went dark. 1AD was the first year without the light of the Gods on Raythe.

Observations

Ro lies out further than the moon. You could easily see it in the sky, but it was too far to see too much detail. When telescopes were being invented in the 500s BD, astronomers could make out the grand cities and floating islands of Ro. Ro had before been thought to be heavenly or godly in some religions, and after this discovery, several new religions were born. Some thought the Argillians to be gods with their far superior technology. Epics were written about Ro and the "gods" that lived upon it.

After the Fall, when telescopes became less expensive and more publicly available, the people saw not the beautiful & awe-inspiring views told to them, but a cold, barren wasteland. The floating islands of Ro became Raythe's equivalent of Atlantis and were believed to be myth for hundreds of years, further splintering religions, until the 1700s/1800s AD when probes were sent and captured evidence of previous life. The Fall of Ro was noticeable on Raythe when it happened. The bright lights from Ro that usually only occurred on New Years began halfway in the year and flash for months until the Fall, when the lights flashed for the last time.